Meal Planning Feb. Week 4 & Food Spending Feb. Week 3

Here's our family kitchen circa 1973.  The sink is on the back wall in the photo and the dishwasher is where you see it.  The fridge is behind where my mother is standing just out of frame on the right side.  Next to the fridge was a butcher block counter where we kept the toaster.  This had shallow doors and storage under it and on the other side of it running along the wall was the stove top(with storage doors above it(and next to that was a set of wall ovens, one on top of the other.  The only prep space was that small 2 ft. long butcher block top and the counter on the left in the photo.  We lived in that house about 7 years and my mother spent a lot of time in that dinky little kitchen, churning out delicious meals.

And here is what actually got served last week......

Sunday--Hot Dogs, Grilled Asparagus

Monday--Ham and Bean Soup, Green Bean Casserole, homemade Bread

Tuesday--Halushki + leftovers-- Ham Soup/GB Casserole, Bread

Wednesday--Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Cauliflower

Thursday--Ravioli, Sausage Sauce, Creamed Spinach, Garlic Bread

Friday--Leftovers

Saturday--Chinese take-out in lieu of Date Night

I served everything planned, though not on the night it was going to be served.  I didn't eat on Wednesday and I had just a half a slice of garlic bread on Thursday, as the toothache was bad those nights.

The food spending last week?

I spent $86.53 in 3 stores: $59.16 at the local Shursave affiliate, $6.80 at Weis and $20.57 at Ollies(the outlet store).  Reg. retail on what I bought was approx. $151. I splurged $6 on Cannoli for Vday, bought on sale chopped clams for a dinner this week, 4 bags of frozen veggies, a bag of salad greens and a small pack of ground beef for lunch fixings.  We will be out of bread this coming week, so the BOGO sale on Arnold's worked for me, and 3 cartons of OJ were had, since it was on sale.  Using Qs, I got a very inexpensive bottle of pancake syrup, 2 containers of Smart Balance w/Olive Oil, and then assorted GM products like whack rolls, flour tortillas, beans and sacks of flour.  The GM items also got me a $5 Cat to use this week at the Shursave market.   I used the $10 Cat from 2 weeks back at Weis and bought 2 bags of fresh spinach, a 4 pack of bagels, 1 dzn eggs, a bag of clementines and Hubs wandered off and added an overpriced bag of tortilla chips to my $2.31, making it a whopping $6.80.  I tried to tell him to wait ONE DAY and put it back and he could buy TWO bags on sale on Sunday for what he paid for 1 bag Saturday, since next weeks ads came out and they are on sale then.  It's not like he ATE the chips on Saturday anyway, so why not wait 1 day and buy it on sale?  He gave me that sad puppy dog look, like I had just kicked him for asking him to wait 1 day so I didn't push the issue. 

But honestly......why do I feel like the bad guy here?

I had a 15% discount card that expired Sunday for Ollie's for we went in the see if there was anything food we needed for a good price.  For $20.57 we ended up with....
2 Spanish Olive Oil
2 Parmesan Cheese cannisters
2 large bottles of Paprika
2 Dijon Mustard
1 Yellow Mustard
1 Pack of Applesauce cups
2 boxes of Cheez-Its
1 Fudge making Kit
We paid half the reg. retail including the added 15% off.

I've spent $279.61 and I am left at this point with $120.39  in my food budget for 9 more days.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--we have soup, one helping of ravioli and sausage, 2 pieces of chicken parm(from Sunday night) and some of the homemade bread left.

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Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday-Chicken Parmesan al fresco, Spinach Salad, Lemon Cake

Monday--Pizza, Clementines

Tuesday--Pulled Pork on rolls, Coleslaw

Wednesday--Stuffed Shells, Caesar Salad, Garlic Bread

Thursday--Kielbasa, Beans, Coleslaw

Friday--Clam Chowder, Fish fillets, Coleslaw

Saturday--Leftovers

I will also be preparing random veggies dishes this week and paying for some veggie and fruit for Daughter's juicing.  More on that when I report in next week. ;-)

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?  Rolls for the pork, Cabbage for all that Coleslaw, Romaine lettuce.  I have all the proteins already in the freezer(or canned-the clams).  I might buy some clam juice to boost the clamminess of the chowder or see if I can get some fish heads at the fish counter at the grocery store to make some fish stock.

I'm figuring $30 to complete this menu and the random veggie dishes.

What's on your menu for the week?  

Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

Sluggy

Meal Planning Feb. Week 3 & Food Spending Week 2

Here is the only photo I took of the "Nemo" we got around here.  Snowfall totaled about 6-7 inches.

Oh the inhumanity of it all!  Will I ever be able to sit on my swing again? lol
To a Southerner(except for those raised in the mountains), THIS amount of snow is enough to make you panic.  Nobody can drive in it, most places don't have the equipment to deal with it and everybody goes nuts thinking they'll never be able to buy food at the grocery store again!
I must say that "real" snowfall amounts were a novelty to me the first few years I lived above the Mason-Dixon Line, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing snow.
But it wears off right quick when you have to shovel it.

Good luck up in New England though as they got total snowfalls like we use to get in the Poconos every year.   Here's our previous house.....

I can't believe we lived there and SHOVELED out multiple times a Winter without a snowblower for 14 YEARS!  We were young and healthier......oh, and broke, so couldn't justify the expense of a snowthrowing machine.

So you folks in CT, RI, MA and ME have my sympathies.

And here is what actually got served last week......

Sunday--Chicken Fajitas

Monday--Taco Bell or Fend for Yourself

Tuesday--Salmon, Broccoli

Wednesday--Pan Saute Chicken, leftover rice from Take-Out, leftover Corn

Thursday--leftover Chicken Fajitas

Friday--Buffalo Blue Cheese Chicken Dip with Celery or leftover Tortilla Chips

Saturday--Hamburgers, French Fries, leftover Salad

I served about half of what I had planned.  The hot dogs, ,the soup and the ravioli got moved to this week.  Friday the Daughter was all jazzed to make some amazing chicken dip she had had before.  It called for 2 bottles of Frank's hot sauce(2 bottles!!!)so I knew I'd probably be dieting on Friday whether I wanted to or not. lol  She cut down on the hot sauce but it was still too spicy for me, though I did eat some of it.  It was also a CHEESE OVERLOAD.  So between the mega cheese and the hot sauce, let's just say I was not a happy camper on Saturday who stuck close to the bathroom and leave it at that.   Next time, I'll eat less of that hot mess and carry a box of baby wipes with me for the next 24 hours.  LOLZ

Now that I've scarred you for life.....let's move on.

The food spending last week?

Ugh.

I spent $120.90 at my 2 stores.  Most of the damage was done at Weis PMITA Markets.  I bought dairy products for Daughter's dip(everything was on sale thankfully), fruit, ravioli, asparagus, beans, OJ, clearance bologna, 3lb. of ground beef and splurged on a box of Crab Rangoons.  Then I stocked up on 6 100% juices, honey, 3lbs. of catfish and 4 pizzas, the ones we love best(on sale AND used Qs!). A sale pack of Salmon, Cabbage, Onions and frozen Green Beans(all on sale)rounded out my shopping for the week.

I've spent $206.92 and I am left at this point with $193.08 in my food budget for February.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--the only thing is a big bowl of that Chicken Dip stuff.  I'm not eating it but the family has orders to do so since it sure did cost a fortune!

If I have to buy some chips or something to get them to use it up, by gosh I will.....even if I have to pay retail for the chips!! ;-)

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Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Hot Dogs, Grilled Asparagus

Monday--Ham and Bean Soup, Green Bean Casserole, homemade Bread

Tuesday--Halushki + Ham Soup/GB Casserole, Bread

Wednesday--Meatloaf, Potatoes(not sure which way), Cauliflower

Thursday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself

Friday--Ravioli, Sausage Sauce, Caesar Salad

Saturday--Maybe Chinese date nite with Hubs

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?

I already picked up the Asparagus, Cabbage, Celery, frozen Green Beans, frozen Ravioli and a can of beans(for the soup-can you believe I had no dried Northern beans left?)last week.   

Still need....Romaine lettuce, milk. I'm looking to stay out of the store(except to do my Price Book Week 6 numbers) so I'll give myself $40 this week just in case a good deal comes up.

What's on your menu for the week?  Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?  I need to clean out the nether regions of my fridge this week and I have a bad bad feeling I'm going to find a science experiment back there. lol

Sluggy